A US Army veteran and father has been stranded in the United Arab Emirates, unable to leave the country, for five years over a “fabricated claim” that he owes money to his former employer, according to an organization working to secure his release. .
Robert Dobbs, 55, is stuck in Dubai, where he has been repeatedly detained (and even beaten by local authorities) for claiming he owes $100,000 to the private Providence English school, Detained in Dubai said.
“The PTSD victim has been separated from her family for five years, due to a fabricated claim that she owed money to her former employer when, in fact, she was owed end-of-service benefits,” reads a statement from the London-based organization. .
But the father of five says he can’t pay the debt because the school won’t renew his work visa or allow him to leave the country and work somewhere else.
“It’s like Groundhog Day. Every day I worry that it will be the day I am thrown in jail while the fake debt is not paid,” Dobb said in the statement published by Detained in Dubai.
“You can never pay because I don’t have the money. I am also legally barred from obtaining a work visa while the case is open.”
Dobbs, who served in the US military for eight years, moved with his wife and blended family to Sharjah, a suburb of Dubai, in 2013 to teach because “the economy was a bit slow in the US,” he told UK. . LBC station.
Robert Dobbs, 55, a US Army veteran (left), has been detained in Dubai for the past five years.Family Handout
The Milwaukee native worked for a year at a different school before taking a job at the Providence Private School of English.
During his four years at the private school, Dobbs became the head of his department, according to LBC.
But when his contract ended in 2018, the school refused to pay his end-of-service benefit (a bonus for employees who complete a period of employment in the country) and would not release him from his visa, Insider reported.
To leave the UAE, the sponsor must cancel a person’s visa, according to the UAE government website.
The US State Department also warns on its website that the country “maintains strict exit controls.”
“Travellers may be denied entry or not allowed to leave the United Arab Emirates if their previous visas have not been properly cancelled,” it says.
Dobbs moved his blended family to the United Arab Emirates in 2013, when he took a job as a teacher.Family Handout
Dobbs sued the private school Providence English for unpaid benefits and won, and a judge in the United Arab Emirates ordered the school to pay, according to court documents obtained by Insider.
However, the school responded with a civil lawsuit against Dobbs, alleging that he owed $100,000 in tuition for his four children who attended the school while he worked there, according to Detained in Dubai.
The Army veteran contends that tuition fees were included in his contract as part of his employment and that the civil lawsuit against him is unfounded and retaliatory.
“She told me to my face that she took the case as revenge because I took the employment case to get my EOSB,” Dobbs said in the statement released by Detained in Dubai.
“The system here can be very easily manipulated by people.”
The United Arab Emirates also prohibits anyone from leaving the country if there is any criminal or civil legal case against them, according to the State Department website.
Meanwhile, Dobbs never had a chance to plead his case in court because his hearing was scheduled to take place just as the COVID pandemic was shutting everything down, and he was never informed of a new hearing date, according to Detained in Dubai.
Dobbs worked for the private Providence English school for five years before school officials said his contract would not be renewed. But they are reportedly holding up the cancellation of his work visa and claim he owes $100,000 for his children’s tuition. Dobbs stipulates that tuition was included in his employment contract. family brochure
Dobbs attempted to appeal the matter to local officials, but told LBC that any attempt to speak to Sharjah officials was like “talking to a brick wall”.
“Robert has no legal avenue to appeal or present evidence to the court that he does not owe money,” Radha Stirling, executive director of Detained in Dubai, said in a statement.
“They didn’t even tell him there was a court date and he couldn’t defend himself.”
He is now urging American diplomats to secure his release, stating that “if diplomatic efforts are not made, the veteran will likely die in Dubai.”
Stirling noted that Dobbs has already contacted the office of Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and has reached out to the State Department.
“Senator Baldwin has confirmed that she will conduct investigations with the United States Department of State and with [her] support, we look forward to Robert being reunited with his family,” who were able to return to the US in 2020, Stirling said.
However, it is still unclear what actions (if any) have been taken to secure Dobbs’ release.
In a statement to The Post, the State Department said: “We are aware that Mr. Dobbs is unable to leave the United Arab Emirates and we are providing him with all appropriate consular assistance.”
The Post has reached out to Baldwin’s office for comment.
Stirling said that because the UAE’s legal system is easy to abuse, cases like Dobbs’ “are all too common.”
“We have seen people die in Dubai because they were not allowed to leave, nor were they allowed to be self-employed because the open police/civil case prevents them from obtaining a visa,” he said in a statement.
“These people are dependent on charity and often succumb to malnutrition or, as they age, lack of medical treatment.”
His children and stepchildren back home say their hopes of his return are waning.Family Handout
Dobbs fears dying in the country.
“It is no exaggeration to say that I will probably die here because of this,” he said in the statement released by Detained in Dubai, noting that his friend Robin Berlyn died trying to escape “the same circumstances 18 months ago.”
His family has criticized the lack of intervention by the US government.
“My stepfather has become close to many people who are in power. They have let him down too,” one of his stepdaughters, who was not identified, told Insider.
“He was a veteran, so he served for his own country and the country is not helping him return to his own country.”
Dobbs also noted that on his family’s last visit, he noticed a local police officer following him.
“I’m looking over my shoulder all the time,” he said. “I think that’s something that really gets you: After a certain point, it’s hypervigilance.”
He told LBC that he now depends on his military training to keep going.
“I’m back to my old military days,” he said. “I have the will to survive, the mental strength to survive.”
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Source: vtt.edu.vn